nels1031 wrote:
The "moderates" enter the battlefield...

And promptly fold faster than Superman on laundry day.

Pentagon-trained rebels in Syria are reported to have betrayed their American backers and handed their weapons over to al-Qaeda in Syria immediately after re-entering the country.

Fighters with Division 30, the “moderate” rebel division favoured by the United States, surrendered to the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, a raft of sources claimed on Monday night. Division 30 was the first faction whose fighters graduated from a US-led training programme in Turkey which aims to forge a force on the ground in Syria to fight against Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil). A statement on Twitter by a man calling himself Abu Fahd al-Tunisi, a member of al-Qaeda’s local affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, read: "A strong slap for America... the new group from Division 30 that entered yesterday hands over all of its weapons to Jabhat al-Nusra after being granted safe passage. "They handed over a very large amount of ammunition and medium weaponry and a number of pick-ups."

Abu Khattab al-Maqdisi, who also purports to be a Jabhat al-Nusra member, added that Division 30's commander, Anas Ibrahim Obaid,had explained to Jabhat al-Nusra's leaders that he had tricked the coalition because he needed weapons. "He promised to issue a statement... repudiating Division 30, the coalition, and those who trained him," he tweeted. "And he also gave a large amount of weapons to Jabhat al-Nusra."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a monitoring group, reported that seventy-five Division 30 fighters had crossed into Syria from Turkey early the day before with “12 four-wheel vehicles equipped with machine guns and ammunition”. US Central Command confirmed about 70 graduates of the Syria “train and equip” programme had re-entered Syria with their weapons and equipment and were operating as New Syrian Forces alongside Syrian Kurds, Sunni Arab and other anti-Isil forces.

The latest disaster, if true, will be the second to befall the programme. Last month, after the first group of fighters re-entered, the militia was attacked and routed by Jabhat al-Nusra, which stormed its headquarters and kidnapped a number of its members. At the weekend, the group’s chief of staff also resigned, saying the training programme was “not serious”. In the statement, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad al-Dhaher complained of insufficient numbers of trainees and fighters, inadequate supplies, and even “a lack of accuracy and method in the selection of Division 30’s cadres”.

The latest developments have only added to the scorn heaped on the much-criticized $500 million (£320m) program, which aimed to forge a 5,400-strong force of “moderate” rebels to combat Isil. It has been hampered by problems almost from the outset, with rebels complaining of a laborious vetting process. The biggest point of contention is that they are only allowed to fight Isil, not the Assad regime, which is the principal enemy for most opposition groups.

Last Wednesday, General Lloyd Austin, head of US Central Command, shocked leaders in the US Senate's armed services committee when he said there were only handful of programme graduates still fighting inside Syria. "We're talking four or five," he said.

The silver lining is that it was Jabbat al Nusra that received some new kit rather than Islamic State, I guess.

 Freakazoitt wrote:

Interestingly, what will be reaction of State Department of the USA which divides terrirost groups on "good" and "bad"?

There are now multiple investigations inside the intelligence community and on Capitol Hill into whether senior intelligence officers at U.S. Central Command altered intelligence assessments of the U.S. war against the Islamic State. The main whistleblower will meet with senior senators on the matter as early as next week.

In addition to the Pentagon inspector general’s investigation into allegations by dozens of intelligence analysts, other inspectors general inside the intelligence community and two oversight committees in Congress have begun their own probes, according to senior lawmakers and intelligence officials.

The Congressional investigations will expand the scope of the existing inquiry by examining allegations of intelligence tampering that predate the war against the Islamic State, some dating back years.

Staffers from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Armed Services Committee have already met with the main whistleblower to discuss the allegations, Senate sources told us. The lawmakers in charge of those committees are working to schedule another meeting with him soon.

“We’re on it,” Armed Services Chairman John McCain told us. Asked if the allegations of intelligence tampering go beyond just reports on the year-long war against the Islamic State, he said: “That’s my understanding, but I have no hard evidence of that. That’s why we are going to have this meeting.”

Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said he and other relevant House committees are starting to probe the most recent allegations of intelligence manipulation as well as past charges that intelligence was suppressed at U.S. Central Command, also known as CentCom."We are encouraging additional whistleblowers to come forward," Nunes told us. "We are initiating a process to gather information about this, and we are working closely with all the committees of jurisdiction to have a coordinated effort."

Nunes also told us that there are now multiple inspectors general inside the intelligence community investigating the allegations made by CentCom analysts.

Other lawmakers, such as Republicans on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, have urged the inspector general for the entire intelligence community, housed at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, to open an investigation into the matter. Instead, that inspector general will be assisting the Pentagon inspector's inquiry, a senior intelligence official told us.

Andrea Williams, the spokeswoman for the inspector general for the intelligence community, told us her office is "not conducting a parallel or joint investigation into allegations raised concerning activities at CentCom. We are providing liaison assistance to the Department of Defense Inspector General." She added that when Defense Department's inspector general completes its report, her office will determine whether to further review the allegations. "Our goal is to ensure that we know, at the end of this evaluation, whether the intelligence provided to senior federal decision-makers was analyzed according to the rules and regulations" promulgated through relevant directives on such oversight.

The roots of the intelligence scandal go back to July when the New York Times reported that the Pentagon's inspector general had launched an investigation into allegations that intelligence products had been distorted by CentCom's top intelligence officer. The Daily Beast earlier this month reported that 50 CentCom analysts backed up the allegations in the initial complaint, an almost unprecedented revolt inside military intelligence.

U.S. intelligence officials tell us the objections began when an analyst in charge of Iraq intelligence at CentCom for more than 13 years complained through intelligence community whistleblower processes that the assessments produced by his unit were being rejected or distorted before they reached decision makers.

One former senior U.S. military official familiar with the charges told us the frustrated analysts were being asked to assess progress in the war against the Islamic State based on statistics of air strikes, vehicles hit, or enemy fighters killed, statistics that are meaningless without deeper context about the Islamic State's ability to recruit forces or hold territory. The analysts also wanted to evaluate the adversary's core strength, command and control structure, and ability to recruit and move forces within its territory.

Top officials like Secretary of State John Kerry have used isolated statistics to show progress, but those figures often do not stand up to scrutiny. Retired General John Allen, who will resign this fall as the president’s envoy to the collation against the Islamic State, used to say that half of the group’s leaders in Iraq had been killed. That was an exaggeration.

Nunes told us that he was also looking into earlier complaints about pressure on intelligence analysts that predate the current war against the Islamic State. Last week, Fox News and the Weekly Standard reported that Nunes in 2012 arrived at the Tampa CentCom headquarters for a meeting with analysts on the documents seized in the 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan, only to be told later that no analysts were working on that particular Saturday. Nunes said he learned later that this was not true. "Dating back to 2012, people within Central Command came to me with very damaging allegations about the intelligence process and specifically as it related to access to the bin Laden documents," Nunes told us.

Nunes may end up learning that the problem was only within U.S. Central Command. But if his investigation also implicates other senior U.S. intelligence leaders, the issue could become sensitive for the White House. The Obama administration has not had a major intelligence scandal like the one that so weakened the administration of George W. Bush after the invasion of Iraq. But then again, the Obama administration has never before faced a revolt on the scale of what is happening inside CentCom now.

 Freakazoitt wrote:

Interestingly, what will be reaction of State Department of the USA which divides terrirost groups on "good" and "bad"?

 BaronIveagh wrote:

 Freakazoitt wrote:

Interestingly, what will be reaction of State Department of the USA which divides terrirost groups on "good" and "bad"?

Probably the same as the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which divides Terrorist groups into 'good' and 'bad'.

 Freakazoitt wrote:

Not same. Djakhbat an-Nusra = Al Kaida = dudes who did 9/11 attack. And according to some US politics, they are more "legal", than Bashar Asad.

 Freakazoitt wrote:
But It appears, for you legitimate authorities (Assad, Peru) are equal to terrorists.

 Freakazoitt wrote:
I don't know about Columbia. What Russia supports in there?

 Freakazoitt wrote:
What do you expect after Assad will "go away" (murdered?)? It's same to Libya and Iraq. Syria will became just another Somalia.

 Freakazoitt wrote:
It's true. I don't expect Assad will return power even with russian help. Even if Israel will help him (which is unreal, of course).
Assad's support by the weapon is ok, so was earlier.
But bombing opposition? Russia bombed them? What the fething hell is going on there?
Even the USSR would think twice

Spoiler:

Something wrong going on. Time to dress a foil hat to protect minds from Reptilian control.

Russia has launched air strikes in Syria for a second day, saying that Islamic State (IS) had been targeted.

The defence ministry said its jets had destroyed an IS ammunition depot and control centres.

However, the areas reportedly attacked appeared to be held by groups opposed to IS and the Syrian government.

The US and its allies fears the strikes have been targeting non-IS opponents of Russia's ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - a claim denied by Moscow.

The latest attacks reportedly hit sites in the north-west held by the Army of Conquest rebel alliance, as well as areas in Homs and Hama provinces.

They reportedly hit areas near the strategic town of Jisr al-Shughour, as well as areas in Idlib province and Hama province further south, according to Lebanon's al-Mayadeen TV.

Rebel activists also reported strikes at Ghantu in Homs province, close to where some of Wednesday's strikes hit.

Russia said that it had hit 12 IS positions in the past 24 hours, although this cannot be independently verified.

Analysis by Jonathan Marcus, BBC diplomatic correspondent
The Syrian government's army may not be what it was, but in local terms it is still a force to be reckoned with.
Bolstered with new Russian equipment and now backed by Russian air power, it could hold its own against most of the opposition forces.
Russia does not have the elaborate intelligence gathering panoply of the US. But much of its targeting will be based upon tactical intelligence obtained from Syrian units on the ground.
This then is the key to Russia's strategy. It is to consolidate the Assad regime, to relieve the pressure points and to ensure that its ally remains a factor in any future diplomatic settlement.
To this end - and there are strong indications of this even from Russia's initial air strikes - Moscow will hit any opponents of the Syrian regime where necessary.

What can Russia's air force do?
The Army of Conquest (Jaysh al-Fatah) alliance had made advances in the north-west in recent months, taking Idlib and Jisr al-Shughour from pro-government forces.

The alliance includes the al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, and the hard-line Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham, as well as several more moderate Islamist groups.

All are opposed to IS and have fought bloody battles with the jihadist group.

More than 50 planes and helicopters are involved in the Russian military operation in Syria, Russia's defence ministry said.

The US, which is targeting IS with air strikes in both Syria and Iraq, says it was informed about Russia's air strikes only an hour before they began on Wednesday.

Nato said there had been little co-ordination by Russia with US-led forces.
The French defence minister said the strikes had not targeted IS, while US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said Russia's approach was "tantamount to pouring gasoline on the fire" and "doomed to fail" because of the breadth of Syrian opposition to Mr Assad.

Russian air strikes on Wednesday hit areas north of Homs, including Talbiseh

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his government stood by its targets.

"The rumours that the target of these air strikes was not IS positions are unfounded," he said. "Talk began that civilians were hurt by air strikes. We have no such data."

Mr Lavrov said there was a need to "establish channels of communication to avoid any unintended incidents". His US counterpart, John Kerry, said talks would be held "as soon as possible," maybe as early as Thursday.

What's the human cost?
More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed and a million injured in four-and-a-half years of armed conflict, which began with anti-government protests before escalating into a full-scale civil war.

And the survivors?
More than 11 million others have been forced from their homes, four million of them abroad, as forces loyal to President Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other - as well as jihadist militants from IS and other groups. Growing numbers of refugees are going to Europe.

How has the world reacted?
Regional and world powers have also been drawn into the conflict. Iran and Russia, along with Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, are propping up the Alawite-led government. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are backing the Sunni-dominated opposition, along with the US, UK and France.

Quneitra

An army unit targeted last night Jabhat al-Nusra-linked terrorist groups in the village of Trinja in the countryside of the southern Quneitra province.

A number of terrorists were killed, including Ashraf al- Hourani of the so-called “Ahrar Nawa Battalion” during the army operations, in addition to destroying their vehicles, weapons and ammunition.

Another army unit killed and injured a number of Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists and destroyed their weapons and equipment in Bait Jinn Farm in the northern countryside of the province.

In another context, SANA reporter said terrorists fired rockets on the villages of Hadar, Khan Arnabeh and Harfa, causing material damage to houses and public and private properties.

 Frazzled wrote:
This sounds more serious.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3255876/Russia-pouring-gasoline-fire-Syria-s-civil-war-says-America-Putin-defies-West-drops-bombs-non-ISIS-forces-fighting-Assad.html